University Public Safety Partnerships That Advance Urban Development
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University Public Safety Partnerships that Advance Urban Development COALITION OF URBAN SERVING UNIVERSITIES The Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU) is a president-led organization committed to enhancing urban university engagement to increase prosperity and opportunity in the nation’s cities and to tackling key urban challenges. The Coalition includes public urban research universities representing all U.S. geographic regions. The USU agenda focuses on creating a competitive workforce, building strong communities, and improving the health of a diverse population. The Coalition of Urban Universities (USU) has partnered with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) to establish an Office of Urban Initiatives, housed at APLU, to jointly lead an urban agenda for the nation’s public universities. ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC AND LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITIES The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) is a research, policy and advocacy organization representing over 230 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations. Founded in 1887, APLU is North America’s oldest higher education association with member institutions in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, four U.S. territories, Canada, and Mexico. Annually, APLU member campuses enroll 4.9 million undergraduates and 1.3 million graduate students, award 1.2 million degrees, employ 1.2 million faculty and staff, and conduct $43.9 billion in university-based research. B University Public Safety Partnerships That Advance Urban Development Contents Executive Summary iii The Problem 1 The Solution: Engage Urban Universities 2 Step 1: Explore the Field 3 Common Attributes of Effective Public Safety Partnerships 3 Common Challenges Facing Public Safety Partnerships 4 Step 2: Identify Key Issues Challenging the Field 5 Student Safety Off Campus 5 Community Safety 9 Step 3: Effective or Promising Practices 11 Student Safety Off Campus 11 Community Safety 15 Step 4: Action Steps to Advance Practice 19 Evaluate Current Cultural Competence and Other Training Programs 19 Training Action Steps 20 Scaled Implementation Action Steps 20 Dissemination 21 Conclusion 22 References 23 Executive Summary ublic safety concerns all communities across In the first section, we collected and compared the United States. Over the past decade, effective efforts across USU campuses, and identified P people’s sense of safety has been in decline. the following common characteristics. Yet, statistics indicate that crime overall has been decreasing, due in part to new technologies and more They were data driven, relying on evidence for innovative strategies. At the same time, in certain decision-making. neighborhoods—usually urban—crime and fear of They were people centered, focusing on quality of crime remain a daily truth, and the relationships life, not just crime reduction. between neighborhoods and police are as much a part of the problem as the solution. They were plan enabled—a part of a wider multifaceted strategy to strengthen neighborhoods Consequently, many cities face several interrelated or the city as a whole. challenges: (1) people in many urban places feel less safe—physically, economically, and socially; (2) fewer In the next section, the report documents effective resources are available to address societal problems; and innovative university-community partnership (3) demographic, technological, and political changes practices across the United States focused on student are undermining past practices and conceptions safety off-campus and community safety. of how the world works; and (4) innovative practices related to real and perceived safety often Specific practices identified to improve student safety lack support, in part due to the lack of credible off-campus addressed the following: evaluations and communications about their impacts. Student codes of conduct One powerful solution for many cities involves Good neighbor policies engaging anchor institutions as partners in addressing real and perceived safety beyond campus City ordinances boundaries. Such partnerships are most effective when these institutions’ anchor missions and actions Community reporting align with their communities’ priorities. The urban Sexual assault and misconduct university is a key anchor institution. As part of its national efforts, the Coalition of Urban Serving Rental inspection programs Universities (USU) engaged in a four-step process to (1) identify types of community-university safety Social media efforts partnerships and how they worked; (2) categorize Crime pattern assessments the key safety issues they addressed; (3) document effective or promising practices for each safety issue; Smartphone apps and (4) suggest actions available to communities and universities to address ongoing challenges. University Public Safety Partnerships That Advance Urban Development iii For the broader category of community safety, the Improving research about the effectiveness of USU variety of practices included the following: community safety partnerships Research practice partnerships Leveraging student research Federally funded programs Creating a comprehensive effective practices report Embedded researcher programs Training action steps: Institutes and centers for crime and safety analytics Enhancing scenario-based training for police Crime prevention through environmental design Expanding current cultural competence training to use and training community groups Training programs to enhance police department Identifying opportunities for effective distance legitimacy and community trust learning programs Enhanced community policing practices and Scaled implementation and dissemination action partnerships steps: Police officer recruitment and retention Pilot implementation of effective practices across innovations three to six campuses Recognizing the urgent need for even greater efforts Perform ongoing identification and evaluation of in many cities, the report concludes with a set of innovative and evidence-based practices possible action steps cities and universities might consider. These actions are categorized as evaluation Advocate for resources and policy change to and research, training, and scaled implementation. advance these efforts Evaluation and research action steps: In conclusion, this report is a first important step in identifying what universities and their partners Carefully evaluating current cultural competence can do to address their distinct set of public safety and training programs for police challenges. There remains much work to do. The key is to recognize that keeping students safe means Further exploring the ethical considerations making communities safer and vice versa. related to social media monitoring and use Expanding discussions beyond USU at meetings Partnerships are the only way forward. and conferences IV University Public Safety Partnerships That Advance Urban Development The Problem ublic safety concerns communities across the are undermining past practices and conceptions of United States. Over the past decade, people’s how the world works; and (4) innovative practices P sense of safety has been in decline. Findings related to real and perceived safety often lack from the Gallup polls on attitudes toward crime support, in part due to the lack of credible evaluations reveal an increase from 41 percent in 2001 to 68 and communications about their impacts. percent in 2013 of respondents saying “more” to the question, “Is there more crime in the U.S. than a year The conceptual solution described here offers a ago, or less?” Perceptions that crime is worsening way forward—one that can improve perceptions, are also very much a local issue. The percentage decrease crime, and ultimately help transform responding “more” to the Gallup question, “Is there the negative cultures that pervade neighborhoods more crime in your area than there was a year ago, most in need. And it does so by engaging anchor or less?” almost doubled, rocketing from 26 percent institutions in collaborative partnerships as part of a in 2001 to 48 percent in 2011. Yet, statistics indicate comprehensive, long-term solution that ties safety to that crime overall has been declining, due in part to sustainable, equitable urban development. new technologies and more innovative strategies. However, in certain neighborhoods—usually urban— crime and fear of crime remain a daily truth, and the relationships between neighborhoods and police Public safety is an essential are as much a part of the problem as the solution. Public safety is an essential feature of sustainable, feature of sustainable, healthy healthy neighborhoods and a sine qua non component of any strategy to combat distress in our urban neighborhoods and a sine qua communities. non component of any strategy As a society, we face several interrelated challenges: (1) people in many urban places feel less safe— to combat distress in our physically, economically, and socially; (2) fewer urban communities. resources are available to address societal problems; (3) demographic, technological, and political changes University Public Safety Partnerships That Advance Urban Development 1 The Solution: ENGAGE URBAN UNIVERSITIES he Coalition of Urban Serving Universities safety as part of a more comprehensive community (USU) is made up of the major set of public development strategy. While there is no single way T research higher education